security dealing prohibitions in Glass Steagall, until the loophole was closed in 1970. Glass Steagall also prohibited investment banks from providing commercial banking services.
In late 1979, work was initiated in the Congress to overhaul the country's financial regulatory structure. The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 was enacted, and this legislation was followed two years later by the complementary Depository Institutions Act of 1982. Both the regulatory structure and the structure of the country's financial system were transformed through the implementation of the two banking decontrol acts. Many, but not all, of the restrictions placed on the type of activities permissible for investment and commercial banks were eliminated. Commercial banks, as an example, may underwrite government, but not corporate, securities issues, and investment banks may provided limited commercial banking services, such as checking accounts supported by investment funds. In 1991, thus, some degree of competition does
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